1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags and labels, and to particular methods of manufacturing them, including a roll-to-roll method of manufacture and an alternative sheet-to-roll method of manufacture.
2. Prior Art
RFID tags and labels have a combination of antennas and analog and/or digital electronics, which may include for example communications electronics, data memory, and control logic. RFID tags and labels are widely used to associate an object with an identification code. For example, RFID tags are used in conjunction with security-locks in cars, for access control to buildings, and for tracking inventory and parcels. Some examples of RFID tags and labels appear in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,107,920, 6,206,292, and 6,262,692.
RFID tags and labels include active tags, which include a power source, and passive tags and labels, which do not. In the case of passive tags, in order to retrieve the information from the chip, a “base station” or “reader” sends an excitation signal to the RFID tag or label. The excitation signal energizes the tag or label, and the RFID circuitry transmits the stored information back to the reader. The “reader” receives and decodes the information from the RFID tag. In general, RFID tags can retain and transmit enough information to uniquely identify individuals, packages, inventory and the like. RFID tags and labels also can be characterized as to those to which information is written only once (although the information may be read repeatedly), and those to which information may be written during use. For example, RFID tags may store environmental data (that may be detected by an associated sensor), logistical histories, state data, etc.
Methods for manufacturing RFID labels are disclosed in PCT Publication No. WO 01/61646 by Moore North America, Inc., incorporated herein by this reference. The method disclosed in PCT Publication No. WO 01/61646 uses a number of different sources of RFID inlets, each inlet including an antenna and a chip. A plurality of webs are matched together and RFID labels are die cut from the webs, to produce RFID labels with liner. Alternatively, linerless, RFID labels are produced from a composite web with a release material on one face and pressure sensitive adhesive on the other, the labels formed by perforations in the web. Various alternatives are possible.
Still other RFID devices and methods for manufacturing RFID labels are disclosed in United States Patent Application Publication No. US2001/0053675 by Plettner, incorporated herein by this reference. The devices include a transponder comprising a chip having contact pads and at least two coupling elements, which are conductively connected with the contact pads. The coupling elements are touch-free relative to each other and formed in a self-supported as well as a free-standing way and are essentially extended parallel to the chip plane. The total mounting height of the transponder corresponds essentially to the mounting height of the chip. The size and geometry of the coupling elements are adapted for acting as a dipole antenna or in conjunction with an evaluation unit as a plate capacitor. Typically, the transponders are produced at the wafer level. The coupling elements can be contacted with the contact pads of the chip directly at the wafer level, i.e., before the chips are extracted from the grouping given by the wafer.
In many applications, it is desirable to reduce the size of the electronics as small as possible. Applicants' assignee Avery Dennison Corporation has been working with Alien Technology Corporation and others to identify materials, devise constructions, and develop processing techniques to efficiently produce rolls of a flexible substrate filled with “small electronic blocks”.
Considering the flexible substrate filled with “small electronic blocks,” Alien Technology Corporation (“Alien”), of Morgan Hill, Calif., for example, has developed techniques for manufacturing microelectronic elements as small electronic blocks, which Alien calls “NanoBlocks”, and then depositing the small electronic blocks into recesses on an underlying substrate. To receive the small electronic blocks, a planar substrate 200 (FIG. 1) is embossed with numerous receptor wells 210. The receptor wells 210 are typically formed in a pattern on the substrate. For instance, in FIG. 1 the receptor wells 210 form a simple matrix pattern that may extend over only a predefined portion of the substrate, or may extend across substantially the entire width and length of the substrate, as desired.
To place the small electronic blocks into the recesses, Alien uses a technique known as Fluidic Self Assembly (“FSA”). The FSA method includes dispersing the small electronic blocks in a slurry, and then flowing the slurry over the top surface of the substrate. The small electronic blocks and recesses have complementary shapes, and gravity pulls the small electronic blocks down into the recesses. The end-result is a substrate (e.g., a sheet, a web, or a plate) that is embedded with tiny electronic elements. FIG. 2 illustrates a small electronic block 100 disposed within a recess 210. Between the block 100 and the substrate 220 is a metallization layer 222. The block 100 has a top surface with a circuit 224 disposed thereon.
Alien has a number of patents on its technique, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,783,856; 5,824,186; 5,904,545; 5,545,291; 6,274,508; and 6,281,036, all of which the present application incorporates by reference. Further information can be found in Alien's Patent Cooperation Treaty publications, including WO 00/49421; WO 00/49658; WO 00/55915; WO 00/55916; WO 00/46854 and WO 01/33621, all of which this application incorporates by reference. Another recent publication of interest appeared in the Information Display, November 2000, Vol. 16, No. 11 at pp. 12-17, and in a paper published by the MIT Auto-ID Center, entitled, “Toward the 5 Cent Tag,” published in February 2002. Further details regarding the manufacture of the microstructure elements and the FSA processes may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,545,291 and 5,904,545, and in PCT/US99/30391 at WO 00/46854, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
As set forth in the MIT Auto-ID Center publication cited above, the electronic blocks may be located in the openings by a vibratory feeder assembly, such as that developed by Philips, instead of the Fluidic Self-Assembly method. Alternatively, the electronic blocks may be located into the openings with a deterministic pick and place method, which can use a robot arm to pick the electronic elements and place them one at a time into respective openings, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,274,508.
In yet another approach to locating the electronic blocks, the webstock or sheetstock may include openings that extend through the entire thickness of the sheet. A vacuum may be applied below the webstock to pull the electronic blocks into and to fill the openings.
The present invention addresses a significant need in these methods involving the placement of small electronic blocks or chips in or openings of a flexible substrate, as well as in more conventional surface mounting techniques for placing chips on flexible substrates. That is, it can be desirable to space the chips at densities exceeding the densities of antennas to which the chips later are bonded, e.g. antennas formed on webstock. The present invention provides this capability, furthermore, using techniques well suited to high speed roll-to-roll production of RFID tags and labels.